Filed under: Car Buying, Economy, Plants/Manufacturing, Hatchbacks, Nissan
Nissan cutting production in Mexico to compensate for low U.S. demand
It's been easy to forget about Nissan's small car offerings with the recent introduction of the redesigned Maxima in New York and the impending arrival of the GT-R for the first time on U.S. shores. But some of Nissan's more compact vehicles remain the bread and butter of the brand and fill the transportation needs of the masses. However, they're far from exciting and recent sales in the U.S. bear this out. To cope with these slow movers, Nissan is planning to idle its Aguascalientes, Mexico plant for a seven days this month so it can realign production with demand. According to Automotive News, the slowdown of car sales in America is expected to cause a bit of a slump for Mexico's burgeoning automotive industry, as many of the export models built there are intended for sale in the States. After the seven day closure, things should be back to normal, and hopefully sales of Nissan's small cars will rise along with fuel prices.[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ted Kennedy Is My Chauffer 7:59PM (3/27/2008)
"hopefully sales of Nissan's small cars will rise along with fuel prices"
Are you actually hoping gas prices rise or are you hoping Versa sales rise as a result of higher gas prices?
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gsolman6 12:32AM (3/28/2008)
Actually I'm hoping for both more smaller Nissans and higher gas prices. The higher the price of gas the more smaller vehicles you will see on the road. So put yourself in my place: If you were in a VW Golf (a safe car but still a small one) would you rather be hit by another small car or some High School puke driving a Ford Explorer or F-150?
Holden Miecranc 10:42AM (3/28/2008)
g,
But will your desire for higher gas prices will hurt more people than will benefit from buying smaller cars? What about poor people who can't afford to buy new, more efficient smaller cars? What if gas gets so high they can't afford to drive to work? What if higher gas prices increases the cost of food and they can't afford to eat? Just because higher gas prices may force some people to buy smaller cars, doesn't mean that it makes things better overall.
sdcarnut 9:25PM (3/27/2008)
Go price a Versa or a Sentra and you will see while sales are lagging !! there are a bit overpriced for there intentions !
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tark 10:31PM (3/27/2008)
They make a great little diesel for small vans and I think trucks. If they had a brain they'd bring it here
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sr20de 10:26AM (3/28/2008)
Since diesel is a solid $1+ more per gallon than regular why would anyone want a diesel right now. They aren't the deal they once were. It's a buyer's market for the first time in a long time for used diesel pickups.
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SoCalObserver 2:44PM (3/28/2008)
Nissan's small cars should be selling better than they are. I think part of the reason is because the Versa hatch is bizarre looking (looks like a shrunken Quest, which is not one of their best designs), the Versa sedan is just blah, and the Sentra is an absolute train-wreck styling-wise with no driving dynamics to excuse the fact that it looks like a shrunken Altima mated with a Saturn Ion. I'm shocked that with all their expertise in foreign markets that prefer small cars, Nissan can't seem to get the Sentra right.
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